The point of this "dumb" thread, to me, is that in the opening question the underlying impression was Arturia had a one year jump on mini MS-20 and Sub Phatty and blew a big volume sale because of production and distribution issues.

Yeah, Arturia did miss a windfall there. .

Absolutely agree with both the point of the thread and your interpretation.

Arturia could have had my money a year ago, but I got a refund off the preorder list. Again 4-5 months ago, I rang with credit card in hand, but the limited stock had run dry well before my phone call. Korg, however, will likely ship these in by the relative bucketload - maybe not quite so good for resale (synth investors take note) but fantastic for scratching an analogue itch at short notice. And, like the microKorg, once these start showing up on many stages then success will breed success: all the cool kids will want one.

The point of this "dumb" thread, to me, is that in the opening question the underlying impression was Arturia had a one year jump on mini MS-20 and Sub Phatty and blew a big volume sale because of production and distribution issues.

Yeah, Arturia did miss a windfall there. .

Absolutely agree with both the point of the thread and your interpretation.

Arturia could have had my money a year ago, but I got a refund off the preorder list. Again 4-5 months ago, I rang with credit card in hand, but the limited stock had run dry well before my phone call. Korg, however, will likely ship these in by the relative bucketload - maybe not quite so good for resale (synth investors take note) but fantastic for scratching an analogue itch at short notice. And, like the microKorg, once these start showing up on many stages then success will breed success: all the cool kids will want one.

Anyway, silver mica capacitors are teh best, obviously.

pretty much how I felt exactly, but I recently decided to take the plunge (again) with the Minibrute, and this time there's no backing out, it's shipped.

I'm actually really excited for both, and I'll probably end up buying both, depending on how soon I wrap my head around a patch bay. I've never had one, so I've been trying to mess around with the iMS-20 until the real deal comes out... and I don't entirely "get it" yet, but I think I will in time.

I still stick with my original position that this competition for low cost monophonic analog synths is good for both sides. It's actually good for Arturia in the long run that Korg is mass producing an insanely cheap MS-20. Why? Because it's creating more interest in the analog synth world. Arturia may have made some poor planning decisions, but there's no way they were robbed of a windfall. Taking a longer view, the MS-20 is good for the consumer and good for its competition. Earlier I think I might have said the MS-20 could be the "Minibrute killer". I'm not sure that's actually true--for one thing, they're very different from each other, and for another, now people are more likely to know there are two low-cost, feature heavy monosynths on the market. The game is far from over for Arturia--other than frustration due to slower than anticipated production, there's not a lot that's slowing purchases. Now I'm waiting for a Maxibrute to come down the line...

Walter Ego

seamonkey wrote:I nominate this for STUPIDEST THREAD ever in the history of the internez.

forums like this are a niche within a niche. Not everyone wants or needs a 'collection', so a sale for Korg may probably well be a lost sale for Arturia. Windfall isn't the correct word, but a quote's a quote. Summarily: The potential for early manufacturer dominance of a small market was lost through a disorganised supply chain from source. It's not the first time, and it won't be the last.

They'll still sell plenty, just not as many as they might have sold had they gotten them out there from day one.

Arturia released a synth so popular that it was completely sold out for an entire year and they had to move production to another factory to keep up with demand. Yeah, they must really be kicking themselves.

Reminds me of the ZX Spectrum 48k home computer release in 1982. They had pre-orders on it (via mail order) for months, and people gobbled them up like candy. Sinclair totally hadn't expected 30000 preorders a week, and totally failed to deliver. So people who preordered them for the following christmas only got a voucher with a promise to get it around february. It was the first home computer priced below £1000 (for the 16K RAM version). Sinclair had some success with the ZX80/ZX81 computers before this, so everyone knew the next would be awesome, and in colours.

It became one of the best selling gaming computers of the 80s in Europe in tough competition with the Commodore 64(which had slightly different graphics but way better sound, the SID chip)

Had to suck, be a 10-year old kid at xmas morning and get a voucher as your main gift

Here's one of the TV ads from 1984..some nifty synth music going on. Any guesses to what synths were used? Sounds DX7'ish.

I think there's several undertones here.One is that some wish Arturia some ill for disappointing them [and others] by not having a 'sure' purchase available. Two, some kind of lesson for all analog-synth-makers to get it through their thick skulls that these kinds of products are viable/profitable. And even if you test the waters, you are still clueless. Go in and go big.

Funny- all this questioning whether or not they missed a bigger opportunity. Of course they did. How much? I guess that's up for debate.1. What if KORG only had the King Korg on offer?2. What if Arturia had MORE offerings...61 key...rack unit....poly....?3. What if Arturia waited and debuted their unit at NAMM...?4. What if they decide to capitalize on this and start making MORE analog synths?5. What if they waited longer and arrived a bit in the future, after the KORG, and never experienced this kind of demand?

All good speculations.But don't forget this is the same town that features paragraphs and paragraphs explaining why NO ONE can ever make an analog synth in modern days that's affordable. Now we have two at once. And, oh- one actually is a recreation of a classic. I might forum-search those threads and see what kind of posts those guys are now making about KORG and Arturia. I wonder if they still know it all.

personally, I think this is just a fun wank thread. and for me the more fruitful angle is to speculate on the possibilities of the current climate influencing other synth makers like Roland, Yamaha, Novation, Alesis, etc. to consider joining (the way we wished Korg would, not too long ago before even the Monotron came out).

the reality is that we are in the midst of a golden era in analog synths and there is only secondary things to complain about like "build quality" and wall warts. not only has Korg done the unthinkable, and that digital synth companies like Arturia and Elektron have equally done the unthinkable, but there is an entire world of eurorack modular that's in the middle of an explosion. no longer is Moog, DSI, Doepfer, AS, and MFB the main purveyors of analog (not to mention 5u/Mu modular), but dozens of others have now joined them.

personally, I'm a little overwhelmed by all the analog stuff going on. if anything, keeping up the chatter can only be a good thing (to attract new users too). the worst thing that can happen to Arturia and the Minibrute right now is to be completely ignored or forgotten, although that is highly unlikely. analog is just too exciting right now. lots of chatter = good.

no...both companies are doing something awesome. The Mini Brute is a whole different beast than the MS-20. That being said, I will buy both of them when I have the cash and when supplies are available.

Automatic Gainsay wrote:There were no electronic genres in the 70s. There was just rock and derivations of rock.

I'm not much of a genre guy myself, I really can't tell one version of 4/4 techno from another. It's all techno. It all needs to be erased from the collective hard drive. (and can these techno revisionists stop insisting that every band that ever had a synth is EBM?!)But come on, in the 70's we had prog, new wave, funk, industrial, classical and even Jazz genres utilizing synths in various capacities. Sure Stevie Wonder may have a rock influence, but you can't say he is in the same genre as EL&P and Devo.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave